


The Man Without A Heart

by pinkevilbob



Series: Pinkevilbob's Widojest Week 2020 [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Body Horror, F/M, Widojest Week, but it is there, like super mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25143160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a man without a heart who lived in the woods. "Do not go into the woods after dark!" he would howl to all those who would pass by. "Do not let me catch you!" he would scream at the children playing too close to the edge. "Never trust a man without a heart!" All those who lived in the village avoided his woods.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Series: Pinkevilbob's Widojest Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818220
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51
Collections: Widojest Week 2020





	The Man Without A Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Fairy Tale/AU prompt day of Widojest Week, aka MY BRAND. This was inspired by Liam's Narrative Telephone episode. I hope you guys like it!

Once upon a time, there was a man without a heart who lived in the woods. "Do not go into the woods after dark!" he would howl to all those who would pass by. "Do not let me catch you!" he would scream at the children playing too close to the edge. "Never trust a man without a heart!" All those who lived in the village avoided his woods.

But one day a young woman from away came to the village. She was a bright and clever woman who was quick to laugh and quicker to smile. Everyone told her tales about the man without a heart and warned her not to go near the forest. The young woman promptly ignored all the tales and warnings and approached.

"Don't go near my woods!" the man without a heart shouted as was his habit as the young woman sat down at the edge of the forest. "Go back to where you came from!"

"No, I don't think I will," the young woman said and bit into a ripe and juicy apple.

This caused the man without a heart to pause. Never before had someone not ran from him. "What are you doing?!"

"Eating my lunch, it's a beautiful day today," the young woman said. "Besides, I'm not in your woods, so it's okay."

The man without a heart could not argue against this, so he let the young woman be. Each day the young woman came back, but half a step closer than she was the day before. Some days she would just eat her lunch, but other days she would sing a song or tell a story to seemingly no one. And each day, the man without a heart would watch and listen to her until he found himself looking forward to her daily visits.

As time went by, the young woman was in the woods itself. The woods were not what the young woman had expected to see. She thought that they would be dark and spooky with terrible beasts in it. Instead it was merely a gathering of trees. There were dark spots, but none of them were unbearably so. Animals lived in the woods and the young woman noticed that many of them had injuries that were healed and appeared to have been attended to. This was tended wood and not a wild place.

The young woman, no longer taking the caution she had started with, wandered the woods exploring it only to run into the man without a heart. He was a shabby and dirty thing. "What are you doing here?!" he roared. "I warned you!" But for all his yelling and blustering, he shook before her like a scared rabbit.

"And what will you do?" the young woman asked softly. "Why should I be scared?"

"I have no heart! Everyone knows that those without hearts are cruel and monstrous."

The young woman approached him like she knew no fear. "Was it someone else who cares for the animals here then? Someone else who mends their broken bones?"

"I am the only one here, but don't let that fool you. I am to be feared." The man without a heart moved his shirt to show the hollow hole in his chest. A small cat slept in it. The kitten stirred and the man without a heart winced, but he stroked its fur soothing it anyways.

"Does it hurt?" the young woman asked.

The man without a heart froze. None had asked him that before. They had all been too afraid of him to care for him. "Ja, it does, but I'm used to it."

"Do you miss having a heart? It must be super lonely here."

"More than anything, but I have Frumpkin," he said petting the cat.

The young woman reached into her chest and pulled out her heart. "Then you can have mine."

Again the man without a heart could not believe his ears. "You would do that for me? I cannot take it. To live without a heart is too cruel a fate."

"Then why is it yours?" the young woman asked.

And the man without a heart had no answer.

"You can share my heart then." As the young woman started to tear her heart in half, the man without a heart stopped her.

"Half a heart does no one any good," the man without a heart said.

"Then we can share it in marriage," the young woman said.

In all his life, the man without a heart only knew harshness and cruelty. "Would you truly have me?"

"If you can still be so kind to even make that aching hole a home for others even without a heart, then yes I would," the young woman said.

So the two wed and moved into the village and the man who shared a heart was known for his kindness and goodness throughout the surrounding land. And they all lived happily ever after.


End file.
